Reading

I like to read in the bathroom. After spending much of my adolescent life in the bathroom sneaking to read books deemed inappropriate, I suppose it has become a natural thing to do? My parents thought I had a "problem" with "going." Nope, just liked to read. I suppose that is one of the reasons I choose to major in English Lit; I would be required to read and read all the time. The freedom to scan my eyes over pages and say, "Sorry, Mom. I have to read this book for class." (To her horror, it wasn't a how-to on classy behavior.) But, I digress (I could go off on tangets forever...there is just so much to communicate!).

As I said, I like to read in the bathroom. But now that I don't have to sneak the books in there with me (stuffed down the back of my pants with a big t-shirt covering it), I like to leave them sitting on the back of the commode. It's also best to have books with quick parts you can read...like, for example, one of my favorite books in the bathroom, is the dictionary. It's fun to expand your vocabulary even though you can't really drop them in conversation because other people don't expand their vocabs and don't understand what you are trying to say. I just rotated out Book of Haikus by Jack Kerouac and Tao Te Ching to put Women's Studies: Essential Readings in there. It's a collection of excerpts from influential women writers.

I was reading an excerpt entitled "Solving Problems and Airing Feelings" by Penny Mansfield and Jean Collard in the chapter on "Marriage and Motherhood". In this reading, they state (emphasis theirs), "Most (though not all) men seek a life in common with their wives, a home life, a physical and psychological base; somewhere and someone to set out from and return to. But, for nearly all the wives, their desired marriage was a common life with an empathic partner, who was to provide both material and emotional security. Women wanted a close exchange of intimacy which would make them feel valued as a person, not just a wife" (194). I just find this statement to be very interesting and true and I like the way they put it. It is so interesting how psychology and literature can be so very similar and influence each other. During undergrad, I always found it appropriate to consult psychology books to not only understand the characters in novels but the writer...the motivation and reason for writing. There are so many ways of looking at one novel and its author: as a work that stands alone or as a reflection of culture and the author's life experiences. It is so much fun to read!

The dogs, Chance and Callie, have been playing together all morning. It's so nice! I made pancakes for breakfast and ate them with the dogs outside while drinking my coffee. This day has started out well! I don't plan to clean much today but enjoy being creative by finishing the dress and making other things (don't know what yet). It's going to be a good one.